Dawn (6 page)

“
It’s okay,” he smiled as he looked over to Dawn. “You pulled me through a gate. That is pretty fascinating.”

“
Uncle, three bad guys behind you!” replied Dawn with some urgency.

Llewellyn just nodded and smiled, “It’s okay. They are terrible robbers, not an ounce of skill among them.”

Well
that
seemed to bust one of the highwaymen loose from his state of shock, and he rushed the unarmed Llewellyn. Llewellyn just waited for the thrust and carefully and gracefully sidestepped it before firing a powerful roundhouse into the man’s head, sending him sprawling and unconscious to the floor. Llewellyn bowed to the remaining two and smiled.

They briefly looked at each other and then charged Llewellyn at the same time, with both of their weapons swinging wildly. Llewellyn dexterously slapped a thrust wide as he sidestepped the man and then pushed him into the second. The second accidentally struck his companion in the arm with sword. As the first man reeled in pain, Llewellyn struck him to the side of the head hard enough that he bowled over the second man with the limp body of the first.

“
If you stay laying down, it’ll hurt less,” offered Llewellyn.

The man just looked up at him in awe while Allrich lumbered over to hold the man at sword point.

“
Ouch! We need to get you back and have that looked at.” Llewellyn turned to Dawn. “We are halfway between realms; you need to send us home, Dawn.”

“
How?”

“
Same way you got us here.”

“
I don’t know what I did. I just panicked and thought about you.”

Llewellyn smiled, “Then clear your mind and think about home.”

Dawn just stared at Llewellyn. Who was she to be controlling a gate? Well, she had gotten them there. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Calm, calm, home… As she opened her eyes she watched the barbican fade into being around her again.

“
Excellent!” smiled Llewellyn.

“
And you didn’t think you could talk to a gate!” laughed Maria. “I’ve opened gates, but never anything like that.”

Dawn just stood there in shock. She didn’t know how she had done it, and she wasn’t certain if she liked it.

“
Dawn is awesome!” belted Heather.

Dawn couldn’t help but smile at that; Heather was just too cute for words. “Awesome or not, I think I’ll leave the gate to Maria.”

Maria smiled and hugged Dawn, “Fair enough, you’ve done enough for today.”

“
We still going to go by the dress shop on the way home?”

“
Of course!” beamed Maria.

The next morning Dawn found herself sitting in a kitchen chair while Maria fussed over her. Dawn’s skirt had several tears and she sported several bruises and a mild gash on her head which Maria carefully dressed.

Ivy burst into the room, short of breath, “What happened?”

“
She was playing in the meadow while Heather and I were down by the stream,” began an equally anxious Maria. “She took quite a spill!”

“
Did you fall off the bridge?” Ivy blurted.

“
No, ma’am, a tree,” Dawn said half under her breath.

“
A tree? You were climbing trees at your age?” demanded Ivy.

“
I never had a chance before. No trees on starships,” Dawn muttered.

Now it was Ivy’s turn to have her fur stand on end. She bit her lip and tried regain her composure, “Um… Okay then. You are trying new things, I understand. But, please, in the future, do so with Maria close by?”

Dawn nodded obediently. She’d dodged that one! Suddenly her heart started to race as Llewellyn entered the room. He was carrying a large black feather.

“
Oh, ouch! Someone had quite a spill,” he observed as he fidgeted with the feather. “By the way, I saw you at the practice field on Tuesday. Do you suppose you could come out again day after tomorrow? I want to see if the boys can keep their cool this time.”

Dawn had
no
desire to go there again. But that feather--it was one of hers. What did he know? Suddenly Dawn thought she had it figured out: this was blackmail! How could he be so low? She cleared her throat, “If you think it would be of use, I would be glad to help.”

“
Excellent!” He started to leave before calling over his shoulder, “That’s not a problem is it Maria?”

“
No, not at all. It should be fun,” she replied. “Oh, what’s with that feather?”

“
Oh this?” he said as he spun it around. “Biggie, isn’t it! New to the area, we’ll see when it shows up again.”

Dawn made an audible sigh of relief as Llewellyn finally cleared the room.

Ivy smirked and prodded, “I take it she made an impression with the boys?”

“
Yes, indeed. One in particular,” Maria grinned.

A broad smile crossed Ivy’s face, “And so it begins. All the more reason not to get yourself all banged up, dear!”

Dawn sheepishly tried to smile. Great. How much did Llewellyn actually know? Ugh! Meet the boy again. Now what was she going to do?

Lightning crashed in the distance as Dawn watched from the mudroom. The rain overhead was gentle enough, but the display in the distance was formidable. It had to be some time after midnight, but it wasn’t the storm keeping her awake, it was nightmares. Over and over visions of that horrible day played out in her head. Every time they ended the same way: she was alone. Crying did little good now. Her face was already soaked and she had all but run dry. For the first time in her life she actually
missed
the teasing and heckling of her older sisters. A sudden shudder came over her although she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold outside or the despair inside.

A long soft shadow suddenly started to dance towards her. She peered back into the house and could just make out the shape of Maria approaching with a candle for a light.

“
Nightmares again?” guessed Maria as she draped a warm blanket over Dawn’s shoulder.

Dawn nodded, “Thank you for the blanket.”

“
It’s the least I could do,” Maria offered. With no small amount of effort she sat down beside Dawn. “Would you like to talk about it?”

Dawn shook her head softly and rearranged herself to make better use of the offered blanket.

Maria sighed softly and joined Dawn staring off at the distant storm, “I wish I could just say something and make it all better… I wish I could say ‘I know how you feel’ and we could just share the moment…” Maria turned to face Dawn square in the eyes, “I have been through nothing like you have and will not lie to you with some ‘magic’ words… but if you ever need to talk,
ever
, I am here for you.”

Dawn looked down with a bit of a sheepish grin, “I thought parents were supposed to tell lies to make their children feel better…”

Maria smiled back, “I do wish you’d think of me that way.” She wrinkled her nose, “not that whole ‘lying’ part… but as a parent.”

Dawn cocked her head slightly, “I…I’m just not ready…”

“
Hushhhhhh!” babied Maria. “Just know that when you are, I am here for you. We are
all
here for you.”

“
Maria?”

“
Yes, dear?”

Dawn looked down at her feet, “Would you hold me?”

Maria laughed lightly and snuggled up tight, “All night and into the morning.”

Dawn touched down to the soft damp earth. She managed to keep both of her feet under her this time as her wings lightly pumped to help maintain balance. She stole a quick glance back across meadow. She had snuck off before breakfast again and needed to get back soon or she was going to be missed. The air was fresh from the night’s rain; as it rejuvenated the earth, it seemed to bring vigor to Dawn’s practice as well. Four good flights this time. No tears or tumbles, and the last two landings were picture perfect. She smiled broadly to herself and debated one last try before returning home.

“
Excellent landing! You are really getting the hang of it.” Dawn startled and froze. She hadn’t known there was an audience. Nervously, she looked around. It was Llewellyn’s voice she’d heard, but she couldn’t see him anywhere! “I’d recommend you quit now and hurry in for breakfast.” She peered hard in the direction of the sound and she could just barely make out a pair of eyes and teeth, just like a Cheshire cat!

Dawn stared as Llewellyn faded into view. “That does look like an awful lot of fun. Flying in the drop ships over a combat zone is a rush, but to fly free under your own power with the wind in your hair has to be a serious treat!” Llewellyn said with sincere envy.

“
You…you were invisible!” Dawn stammered.

“
Well, transparent more than invisible, yes, but what a landing that was. Perfect flare and the way you stuck it!”

Dawn stared blankly at Llewellyn in a mild state of shock and confusion. “How…. how do you do that?”

Llewellyn cocked his head and thought a bit, “Well, I’m a High Silver. Silvers and High Silvers can both change their coat color. You know when I first was learning to change my coat, it seemed not unlike flexing muscles in the skin, as weird as it might sound. Nowadays, well, I don’t know, I just do it.” He paused for effect before continuing, “How do you make your wings come and go? It is most likely fundamentally the same mechanism.”

“
I… I’m not sure either… I guess it is kind of like you said: I just do it.”

“
Well, there we are then, now back to the discussion at hand; while that was a marvelous flight, breakfast is the next order of business.”

Dawn cautiously nodded and winked her wings out with a flash and quickly straightened her dress. “I’ve seen a Silver once before, he could change the hue of his fur and darken it a bit. Chromophores at the root of the fur or something… but it was
nothing
like that…”

Llewellyn nodded as the pair, somewhat timidly, started walking toward the house, “Yes, well… where to begin… Like I mentioned, I’m actually what they call a High Silver… much like a Silver but more so. There are a few hundred thousand Silvers spread across all the known worlds… there are eighteen of us. Eighteen times more common than you, but in the grand scheme of things, about par on rarity.”

“
How long have you known about the wings? Have you been spying on me, sir?” Dawn was a rare mix of scared and irritated and fought for the right words.

“
I’ve known of your wings since shortly after you were born; I was contacted by members of your family. And no, I’ve not been spying on you; that would be rude,” he offered quite sincerely. “I was heading out to the butcher this morning, got a chance to see you in full form, so I kind of made myself scarce so as not to disturb you.”

“
You scared me… a lot!”

Llewellyn gave a broad grin, “I can be a bit melodramatic. One of many faults!”

“
So you didn’t actually see me crash the other day when you found the feather?”

“
No, I came across it after the fact. An exceptionally large feather that I’d never seen before with your footprints all around… it wasn’t much of a stretch.”

“
Who all have you told?” Dawn cautiously inquired.

“
Told what? About the twins?”

Dawn gave him her best dirty look.

“
Oh! About the wings… No one. Should I have?” he queried.

Dawn shook her head vigorously, “No! Thank you…”

“
Not even Maria?”

Dawn sighed, “Please, let me tell her on my own time, sir.”

“
Fair enough! Well, I’ll meet you at the house later. I have to get to the butcher shop!”

Dawn made it back to the house on her own and found Maria had just starting to look for her.

“
Oh, there you are,” called Maria. “Where have you been?”

“
I took a walk with Uncle and we talked a bit.” Well, that was true enough.

“
Oh, very good then. Was he headed to the butcher?”

Dawn cracked a smile. So at least that part was true. Maybe he hadn’t been spying on her after all. “That is what he said.”

“
Good, good! Well eat up. Classes this morning and then maybe a short trip to the meadow after lunch.”

Dawn nodded and smiled, Maria always did a good job of breaking up the monotony of class work. “Great plan, as always!”

The afternoon soon slowly rolled by as Dawn sprawled on a picnic blanket and devoured her book. Nearby, Maria and Heather were working on lettering with a chalk and slate. The birds sang long high notes as a few high and mighty clouds finally surrendered to the day’s sun.

Maria suddenly sat upright holding her side and gasped a bit. With no small amount of effort she made it to her feet and breathed deeply.

Dawn was suddenly scared, “Are you all right? What is it.”

Maria smiled at her through some very obvious pain, “It’s okay, sunshine. I think it’s time…”